No Bomb Is Innocent

"We must create a third side to this disgusting war” says Turkey’s Association to Promote, Spread, Enforce and Monitor Enforcement of Children Rights (Gundem Cocuk/Agenda is Child) in a public statement condemning and deploring the explosion in Diyarbakir which killed 10 people including six children.

“We no longer have the right to remain silent to the sides which have become so dishonorable that they can target children, innocent civilians”, the organization said.

The emotional statement pointed out that it would be seen that "as it happens after every act of savagery, the sides will try to lift responsibility from themselves by blaming each other. No one will take the responsibility of such a savagery where children were killed. But look at those making the accusations with scrutiny and do not forget: Non of those trying to shift responsibility are less guilty than the other.”

The statement continued: "Those conducting violence, nourishing it, those creating the conditions for it are all equally guilty. The crime is a crime even if the bomb had not killed children. When it does, it is barbarity”.

Gundem Cocuk indirectly referred to a recent spell of bombings in other parts of Turkey where a radical Kurdish organization known as the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) recently claimed responsibility.

"The entrance of a market place in Antalya, a minibus in Kusadasi or a bus stop in Diyarbakir make no difference” it said. “No bomb is more innocent than another”.

The association warned that the indiscriminate bombings were a risk and threat for the whole of the community and that no one was far away from this threat.

“Can you see those around us today, who will be passing in front of a bomb or a bullet in a short while, becoming the dead of the future, the children?” asked the statement. “This is not called wrong time, wrong place. What is wrong is us! We now have to decide on whether or not to use all of our power and stop this savagery.

The Gundem Cocuk statement follows a statement issued by UNICEF this week where it was stressed that nothing could justify violence against children, underlining that the protection of the child from violence was a priority for all. (KO/II/YE)